Andy Roeser

The Clippers not only got three No. 1 draft choices Wednesday, they also switched radio stations. The Clippers, formerly on KRLA, have signed a three-year contract with KMPC. "Considering the promotional aspects, this is an ideal situation," said Andy Roeser, the Clippers' executive vice president in charge of business operations. Roeser said the team, as it did with KRLA, will buy the air time and sell the advertising, thus ensuring KMPC of a profit. "KMPC is guaranteed to win," he said.

They did a lot of negotiating and wrangling, but on Sunday the Clippers and Boston Celtics reached an agreement in principle on a deal for Coach Doc Rivers to come to L.A., according to NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. For the Clippers to get the rights to negotiate with Rivers, they had to send the Celtics an unprotected first-round draft pick in 2015, the executives said. Rivers has three years and $21 million left on a five-year deal. That's the contract the Clippers will take over, the executives said.

Resuming their flirtation with Orange County, the Clippers opened the Pond phase of their season Saturday night before a large boisterous crowd and no Donald T. Sterling. Sterling, the Clipper owner, rarely comes to the Pond, the venue many of his staffers have been trying to convince him to move to. Sterling came close to moving the team two years ago but backed off. The Clippers averaged 15,231 in six games last season, almost double the 8,836 they averaged in the Sports Arena.

Why mess with success when you have known only defeat previously? The Clippers sold out 94 straight games with Vinny Del Negro as coach, won the franchise's first Pacific Division title and then decided to not bring back the winningest coach in Los Angeles Clippers history. I called the Clippers, asked for PR, got transferred to a machine, and when I called back and asked for a live person, I got transferred to another machine. Four more times. Maybe they fired the PR guys as well as the coach.

The Clippers informed Coach Vinny Del Negro Tuesday that the team will pick up his contract option for the 2012-13 season, said sources that were not authorized to publicly speak on the matter. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, president Andy Roeser and vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey came to the conclusion that Del Negro would at least finish his third year as coach of the Clippers. Del Negro took the Clippers to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, where they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs.

They did a lot of negotiating and wrangling, but on Sunday the Clippers and Boston Celtics reached an agreement in principle on a deal for Coach Doc Rivers to come to L.A., according to NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. For the Clippers to get the rights to negotiate with Rivers, they had to send the Celtics an unprotected first-round draft pick in 2015, the executives said. Rivers has three years and $21 million left on a five-year deal. That's the contract the Clippers will take over, the executives said.

The Clippers have reached an out-of-court settlement with the National Basketball Assn. over the league's suit to force the club to move back to San Diego. Under terms of the settlement, which was sent to teams in a special telex Tuesday, the Clippers will pay the NBA about $5.7 million, which is its share of the expansion revenue paid by the league's four new franchises. Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando and Charlotte paid $32.5 million apiece to join the league.

Lenny Wilkens resigned as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, clearing the way for the Clippers to pursue one of their leading candidates to replace Larry Brown. Indiana and Atlanta both reportedly also have interest in Wilkens for their vacancies. But the Cavaliers had been denying teams permission to speak with the NBA's second-winningest coach, even after they had been eliminated from the playoffs last week.

Why mess with success when you have known only defeat previously? The Clippers sold out 94 straight games with Vinny Del Negro as coach, won the franchise's first Pacific Division title and then decided to not bring back the winningest coach in Los Angeles Clippers history. I called the Clippers, asked for PR, got transferred to a machine, and when I called back and asked for a live person, I got transferred to another machine. Four more times. Maybe they fired the PR guys as well as the coach.

The Clippers may not yet be able to compete with the Lakers on the basketball court, but they have declared war on the Lakers at the box office with an aggressive advertising campaign that some Clipper executives say, privately, is in poor taste. One of the Clippers' new ads pictures two fans sitting on the roof of what appears to be the Forum. The caption reads: "Next season, they'll put you on the roof."

SACRAMENTO - The cow bell crowd came to beg some more for NBA attention, maybe the last Kings' game to be contested on this prairie before a move to Seattle. But there was the real possibility the energy in this graveyard might raise the Kings from the dead, thereby sending the Clippers to Memphis to begin the playoffs. However, this has been the best regular season in Clippers' history, with Wednesday night's 112-108 victory the exclamation point. While the local yokels remained here in their seats long after the game was over, chanting, "Here we stay," there's a lot more basketball to be played in Los Angeles.

The Clippers' playoff run last spring and their busy off-season of stockpiling talent simply increased the pressure on them to be successful this season. That burden to succeed rests not only with All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, but also with the man who is expected to lead them, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro. In May, the Clippers picked up the option on Del Negro's contract, giving him a third season as coach for about $2 million. Still, Del Negro, 46, enters the new season in the final year of his contract.

The moratorium on NBA free-agent signings ends Wednesday, freeing team executives to comment on their moves. A quick rundown of what select general managers ought to say: Brooklyn's Billy King: "Two down, one to go!" Houston's Daryl Morey: "Just kidding! We're really not going from Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic to Courtney Fortson and Shaun Livingston at point guard … are we?" The Lakers' Mitch Kupchak: "Sacre bleu! All these fans who groused that our biggest off-season move would involve Robert Sacre need to get a clue.

Though no decision is imminent, the Clippers have begun the process of finding a general manager to replace the departed Neil Olshey, according to officials from three NBA teams who were not authorized to speak publicly on the Clippers situation. Clippers President Andy Roeser and Coach Vinny Del Negro have discussed possible GM candidates, but they haven't yet taken anything to owner Donald Sterling. Kiki Vandeweghe, former general manager of the Denver Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets, interviewed with Roeser last week, the officials said.

The Clippers informed Coach Vinny Del Negro Tuesday that the team will pick up his contract option for the 2012-13 season, said sources that were not authorized to publicly speak on the matter. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, president Andy Roeser and vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey came to the conclusion that Del Negro would at least finish his third year as coach of the Clippers. Del Negro took the Clippers to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, where they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — I've got your grit and grind here, Memphis, and they are wearing Clippers uniforms. The Grizzlies were supposed to be the better team, with fans holding up "Believe Memphis" towels and a newspaper columnist here detailing the intangibles early on that would separate Memphis from L.A. But while the columnist moves on now to write about the minor league baseball team here or the town's best bowlers, the Clippers have already...

Accepting that Tokyo could not host the World Figure Skating Championships next week, the sport's governing body stepped up efforts Monday to find a new venue and dates for its marquee event. The International Skating Union is expected to announce a backup plan this week after giving up hopes ? initially shared with Japanese organizers ? to proceed as planned after Tokyo's Yoyogi stadium escaped damage in Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Instead, the ISU made the inevitable ruling ?

Former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain , who was arrested last month on suspicion of selling prescription narcotics, will not face misdemeanor charges if he completes a pre-file diversion program, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office said Wednesday. Mustain, 23, must complete a drug-education program, perform 100 hours of community service and not be involved in another instance with police over the course of one year, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

Former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain , who was arrested last month on suspicion of selling prescription narcotics, will not face misdemeanor charges if he completes a pre-file diversion program, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office said Wednesday. Mustain, 23, must complete a drug-education program, perform 100 hours of community service and not be involved in another instance with police over the course of one year, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

Accepting that Tokyo could not host the World Figure Skating Championships next week, the sport's governing body stepped up efforts Monday to find a new venue and dates for its marquee event. The International Skating Union is expected to announce a backup plan this week after giving up hopes ? initially shared with Japanese organizers ? to proceed as planned after Tokyo's Yoyogi stadium escaped damage in Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Instead, the ISU made the inevitable ruling ?